Newly Swissed Online Magazine

All the favorite Swiss foods from my 80’s childhood

Back in the 1980s, there were no school-provided lunches in Switzerland.

To the ringing of the church bells at noon, I would return home for lunch Monday through Friday. But before sitting down to eat, I would disappear into my room to play with my Legos first.

"Dimitri! De Zmittag isch parat!" is a call I remember all too well. "Dimitri, lunch is ready!" My mom, and really all the moms at the time, were superwomen. They stayed home to cook lunch for us and made sure we got back to school on time.

As I reflected on these childhood memories, I remembered all the Swiss foods I used to eat back then: at a friend's house, at my grandparents' on the weekend, or at my mom's kitchen table...

Here are a dozen Swiss foods I remember from my childhood in Switzerland:


Pastetli pastries filled with chicken and a side of carrots and peas

Swiss Foods - Pastetli Swiss Pastry Dish

Gehacktes und Hörnli mit Öpfelmues - Macaroni with ground beef and apple sauce

Gehacktes mit Hörnli - Swiss Macaroni Dish
Copyright Honegger AG/Nicole de Pretto

Omelettes with cinnamon sugar - one of my favorites!

Swiss foods - Omelettes with cinnamon sugar

Fotzelschnitte - the same as French toast

Fotzelschnitte Arme Ritter

Chnöpfli, a type of spaetzle pasta

Spaetzle Chnoepfli Swiss Dish

Toast Hawaii, a classic

Toast Hawaii
Copyright Rainer Zenz/Wikimedia Commons

Nudelauflauf mit Schinken - Noodle pasta casserole with ham

Anyone else remember this? I still need to cook it in order to take a photograph...

Buchstabensuppe - Clear alphabet letter soup

Buchstabensuppe - Alphabet Pasta Soup
Copyright Till Westermayer/Wikimedia Commons

Chäswähe - Cheese pie

Käsewähe - Swiss Cheese Pie

Polenta pizza with tomatoes

Polenta Pizza - Mais Pizza - Swiss Dish

Fischstäbli - nothing but fried fish fingers

Fischstäbchen Fish Sticks
Copyright Superbass/Wikimedia Commons

And who doesn't like Riz Casimir? It's curry rice with chicken, canned fruits and roasted bananas.

Swiss foods - Riz Casimir

Dimitri Burkhard

As the founder, editor, and community manager of Newly Swissed, Dimitri owns the strategic vision. He is passionate about storytelling and is a member of Swiss Travel Communicators. Dimitri loves discovering new trends and covers architecture, design, start-ups and tourism.

Dimitri Burkhard

Download our e-book: 77 Facts about Switzerland

1K Shares
Share1K
Tweet1
Share
Pin68
WhatsApp